古

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word 古. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word 古, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say 古 in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word 古 you have here. The definition of the word 古 will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of古, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: 吉 and 𠮷
古 U+53E4, 古
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-53E4
← 口
 		CJK Unified Ideographs 句 →

Translingual

Stroke order
5 strokes
Stroke order

Han character

古 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+2, 5 strokes, cangjie input 十口 (JR), four-corner 40600, composition ⿱十口)

  1. Shuowen Jiezi radical №53

Derived characters

References

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 171, character 8
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3233
  • Dae Jaweon: page 380, character 6
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 568, character 3
  • Unihan data for U+53E4

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 古
alternative forms 𠖠 ‡
故 Cantonese "story"
Wikipedia has articles on:

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 古
Shang Western Zhou Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Chu slip and silk script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
Characters in the same phonetic series (古) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
箇 *kaːls
個 *kaːls
居 *kɯ, *kas
橭 *kaː, *kʰaː
嫴 *kaː
姑 *kaː
辜 *kaː
酤 *kaː, *kaːs, *ɡaːʔ
蛄 *kaː
鴣 *kaː
沽 *kaː, *kaːʔ, *kaːs
盬 *kaː, *kaːʔ
古 *kaːʔ
罟 *kaːʔ
估 *kaːʔ
鈷 *kaːʔ
詁 *kaːʔ
牯 *kaːʔ
故 *kaːs
固 *kaːs
稒 *kaːɡs
痼 *kaːɡs
錮 *kaːɡs
鯝 *kaːɡs
棝 *kaːɡs
凅 *kaːɡs
枯 *kʰaː
軲 *kʰaː
跍 *kʰaː
骷 *kʰaː
苦 *kʰaːʔ, *kʰaːs
葫 *qʰaː, *ɡaː
餬 *ɡaː
瑚 *ɡaː
湖 *ɡaː
鶘 *ɡaː
猢 *ɡaː
醐 *ɡaː
糊 *ɡaː
箶 *ɡaː
蝴 *ɡaː
胡 *ɡaː
瓳 *ɡaː
怙 *ɡaːʔ
祜 *ɡaːʔ
岵 *ɡaːʔ
婟 *ɡaːʔ, *ɡaːɡs
楛 *ɡaːʔ
据 *ka
裾 *ka
琚 *ka
椐 *ka, *kas, *kʰa
鶋 *ka
蜛 *ka
崌 *ka
涺 *ka
腒 *ka, *ɡa
鋸 *kas
倨 *kas
踞 *kas
涸 *ɡaːɡ

Unknown.

Fang (1982) finds evidence for the 十 component originally being a depiction of a piece of food and the character originally being a depiction of someone spitting out a piece of food. Thus, Fang argues this character is the original form of 苦 (kǔ).

Shuowen: Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 十 (“ten”) + 口 (“mouth”).

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-ga (“old”). Cognate with 故 (OC *kaːs, “old things; former; dead”) and Tibetan རྒ (rga, “to be old; aged”).

Pronunciation 1

Note: kū - in 古田 (Kŭ-chèng).
Rime
Character 古
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 見 (28)
Final (韻) 模 (23)
Tone (調) Rising (X)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) I
Fanqie 公戸切
Baxter kuX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/kuoX/
Pan
Wuyun 		/kuoX/
Shao
Rongfen 		/koX/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/kɔX/
Li
Rong 		/koX/
Wang
Li 		/kuX/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/kuoX/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		gǔ
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		gu2
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 古
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		gǔ
Middle
Chinese 		‹ kuX ›
Old
Chinese 		/*kˁaʔ/
English ancient

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. * as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 古
Reading # 1/1
No. 4219
Phonetic
component 		古
Rime
group 		魚
Rime
subdivision 		0
Corresponding
MC rime 		古
Old
Chinese 		/*kaːʔ/

Definitions

古

  1. the past; ancient times
    古今  ―  gǔjīn  ―  ancient and modern times
  2. old; ancient
  3. classic; old-styled
  4. simple; unaffected; unsophisticated
  5. things in the past; antiquities; history
  6. (Cantonese, Hakka, Southern Min) story (Classifier: 段 c)
    講古／讲古 [Cantonese]  ―  gong2 gu2   ―  to tell a story
  7. Short for 古體詩／古体诗 (gǔtǐshī, “ancient-style poem”).
  8. a surname
    古天樂／古天乐 [Cantonese]  ―  gu2 tin1 lok6   ―  Louis Koo Tin-lok (Hong Kong actor)

Compounds

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (古):
  • → Japanese: 古(こ) (ko)
  • → Korean: 고(古) (go)
  • → Vietnamese: cổ (古)

Others:

  • → Vietnamese: cũ

Pronunciation 2

Definitions

古

  1. † Alternative form of 固 (gù)
  2. † Alternative form of 故 (gù)

Pronunciation 3

Definitions

古

  1. † Only used in 古成.

References

Japanese

Kanji

古

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

Compounds

Compounds

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
古
いにしえ
Grade: 2
kun’yomi
For pronunciation and definitions of 古 – see the following entry.
【いにしえ】
the past
ancient times
Alternative spellings
往にしへ, 去にしへ
(This term, 古, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
古
ふる
Grade: 2
kun’yomi
Alternative spellings
旧
故

Stem of adjective 古い (furui, “old”).

Pronunciation

Noun

古(ふる) • (furu) 

  1. used item, secondhand item, hand-me-down

Prefix

古(ふる) • (furu-) 

  1. paleo-, old, used, previous

References

  1. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean

Hanja

古 (eumhun 옛 고 (yet go))

  1. Hanja form? of 고 (“old; ancient”).

Compounds

Compounds

Vietnamese

Han character

古: Hán Việt readings: cổ (公(công)土(thổ)切(thiết))
古: Nôm readings: cổ, cỗ, của, có, cỏ, kẻ

Compounds

Compounds

Adjective

古 • (cổ)

  1. chữ Hán form of cổ (“ancient; old”).

Noun

古 • (cổ, của)

  1. Nôm form of cổ (“neck”).
  2. Nôm form of của (“property; belongings”).

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Nguyễn (2014).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Nguyễn et al. (2009).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Trần (2004).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Bonet (1899).
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Génibrel (1898).
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Taberd & Pigneau de Béhaine (1838).
  7. ^ Hồ (1976).
Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia